“The fact that it’s an episode that I have a bunch of serious stuff to do, I’m comforted to know the director is someone I know pretty well,” shares Robert Sean Leonard of next week’s Hugh Laurie-directed House, titled “The C-Word.”

Sources confirm to TVLine exclusively that producers are filling the Dean of Medicine post vacated by Lisa Edelstein’s Cuddy with a face familiar to fans of the Fox hit as opposed to bringing in a new cast member.

House co-stars Robert Sean Leonard and Omar Epps have closed deals to return for the series’ upcoming eighth (and likely final) season, which is thisclose to being a reality as a renewal agreement between Fox and House producer Universal Media Studios is being finalized tonight. READ MORE

Before he joined Fox’s House as the yin to Hugh Laurie’s yang, Robert Sean Leonard was an accomplished Broadway thespian with a handful of Tony nominations (and a win — hello!) under his belt. Now, for the first time in nearly a decade, he’s back on the Great White Way in a revival of Garson Kanin’s 1946 comedy, Born Yesterday. So, while the show is in previews at the moment (ahead of its April 24 opening), the actor is juggling his stage duties with his taping of the final episodes of House‘s seventh season, meaning he commutes from NYC to L.A. on his one day off a week. What was so appealing to him about playing the journalist hired by a corrupt tycoon (The Defenders‘ Jim Belushi) to tutor his airheaded girlfriend (played by newcomer Nina Arianda) that he’d put himself through all this? A hint can be found in the headline. But, as you might expect, there’s more to the story — much more.